Oh, Lisa, you and your stories. Bart is a vampire. Beer kills brain cells. Now lets go back to that building thingy, where our beds and TV is. - Homer Simpson

Watch someone after theyve had a few drinks, and youll find evidence that alcohol does something to their brain. They stumble, slur their words, lose control of their emotions, and forget things.

Some people have tried to explain this behavior as the aftermath of cell death caused by alcohol. Often, its packaged as a neat factoid like Three beers kill 10,000 brain cells.

Now, ethyl alcohol (the kind found in boozy beverages, also known as ethanol) can kill cells and microorganisms. Thats what makes it an effective antiseptic. Your brain contains a few billion cells called neurons that send electrical and chemical messages between it and the other parts of the body. Obviously, you dont want these little guys dying en masse.

Fortunately, when you drink alcoholic beverages, your body tries not to let all of that ethanol roam around unchecked. Rather, your liver processes it and converts it into less toxic stuff. The liver can only work so fast, though, processing about 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits per hour. If youre knocking drinks back fast enough that your liver cant keep up, the excess alcohol hangs out in the blood and travels through the body until it can be processed.

When this alcohol reaches the brain, it doesnt kill the cells outright. What actually happens, according to Roberta Pentney, a cell biologist who studied alcohol and brain function for decades at SUNY Buffalo, is that the alcohol damages the parts of the cells that send and receive information. This causes problems with the way the cells communicate with each other and results in some of the impairments of intoxication.

Researchers at Washington University found that alcohol, even when applied directly to neurons, didnt kill them. Like in Pentneys work, it just interfered with the way they transmit information. Specifically, the researchers showed that alcohol causes certain receptors on neurons to manufacture steroids that inhibit memory formation.

Some alcoholics can experience neuron death as part of a disease called Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. In these cases, the evidence again suggests that the disease and cell death arent caused by the alcohol itself, but a deficiency in the B vitamin thiamine and general malnutrition that often go hand in hand with alcoholism.

For moderate drinkers, a number of studies from the last 15 years suggest that, far from killing brain cells, a little tipple is actually associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline and dementia.

Well, you see, Norm, its like this. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, its the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine.

For moderate drinkers, a number of studies from the last 15 years suggest that, far from killing brain cells, a little tipple is actually associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline and dementia.

I remember in my young, young days sitting at a bar and a pretty young lady walked up and said .... Will you buy me a drink? I politely said ... yes. I was not prepared for what happened next. She went to cursing, yelling, almost to the point of attacking me with physical blows to the body. She went nuts. I sat there and remained calm as her friends moved in a restrained her. It was a sight to behold. Her friends holding her back and telling her to calm down. The bar tender standing there smiling and looking strangely at me ... Like I had done something. Later in the evening another of her friends came over to apologize for the actions of her friend. This is where the story becomes interesting ... See ya later.

12
posted on 04/02/2013 11:27:26 PM PDT
by no-to-illegals
(Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)

This will shorten the story somewhat and am sorry to leave you hanging. I believe that it was about at that time there was a stranger walked in the door, and said the following well known line at FR ... I’d Hit It!

31
posted on 04/03/2013 4:56:36 AM PDT
by no-to-illegals
(Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)

One more explanation Bob. This one makes the most sense. Once upon a time ... there strangers that came to this planet. These strangers came in peace or so they said. Knowing what I know now ... the reason the strangers came from a galaxie far far away was for this planet's women. And that is the rest of the story.

35
posted on 04/03/2013 5:36:14 AM PDT
by no-to-illegals
(Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)

Thanks Laz. Still worried about Paul Harvey though. Have been reading up on zombies and all the government warnings. What would Paul Harvey say? It may be a NK trick with both NK and Iran providing the zombies. Brain cells ... it is good the story has been told and the rest is history with the future unknown. I think Asia, the Middle East, and other parts of the world missed out on some of the breeding process when the Aliens came or too much inbreeding as has been accused of Americans with Aliens. I hope there was one LOL in the postings this A.M.

48
posted on 04/03/2013 6:35:48 AM PDT
by no-to-illegals
(Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)

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